The TSX 60 Index is testing the new support level at 720 on the weekly chart. Failure would indicate a test of 700, while respect would confirm the primary up-trend. Breach of 700 is unlikely but would warn of a correction to primary support at 650. 63-Day Twiggs Momentum above zero continues to favor a primary up-trend.
* Target calculation: 720 + ( 720 – 650 ) = 790
According to mortgage-data firm CoreLogic, 11.1 million of homeowners had an underwater mortgage in the fourth quarter, representing a large 22.8% of all residential properties with a mortgage. The share has not come down much since the recovery started in 2009. Of those underwater borrowers, 6.7 million have only a primary mortgage, with an average negative equity of $51,000. Of the 4.4 million with first and second liens, the average amount is $84,000. According to CoreLogic, an estimated $715.3 billion in negative equity is floating throughout the housing market.
via Housing Still Drowning in Underwater Mortgages – Real Time Economics – WSJ.
Americas Petrogas was identified as a Momentum Trade using Incredible Charts screen #48894.
![Americas Petrogas [BOE]](https://i0.wp.com/www.incrediblecharts.com/images/2012/2012-03-01-boe-ca.png?w=1140&ssl=1)
Narrow consolidation is bullish and Thursday’s long tail/hammer candlestick indicates good support at $4.00.
The five biggest banks in the United States are too powerful and should be broken up, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said on Wednesday.
The financial crisis has left the five biggest banks even more powerful than before, he said at an event in Mexico City……
“After the crisis, the five largest banks had a higher concentration of deposits than they did before the crisis,” he said. “I am of the belief personally that the power of the five largest banks is too concentrated.”
via Five Largest Banks ‘Should Be Broken Up’: Fed’s Fisher – US Business News – CNBC.
In the 12 months to June 2011, dollar purchases accounted for just 15% of additions to China’s reserves.
That confirms hints from Beijing and Europe over the past year that China has ramped up purchases of European debt
via Heard on the Street: China Shifts Out of Dollars, World Doesn’t End – WSJ.com.
The Aussie and Canadian Dollar mirror the CRB Commodities Index, testing resistance at their long-term highs. The Aussie encountered resistance at $1.08. Breakout would confirm a primary up-trend — already signaled by 63-day Twiggs Momentum above zero.
* Target calculation: 1.08 + ( 1.08 – 0.96 ) = 1.20
Canada’s Loonie is similarly testing resistance at $1.01. Breakout would offer a target of $1.06*.
* Target calculation: 1.01 + ( 1.01 – 0.96 ) = 1.06
The South African Rand is fairing slightly better, with the Aussie testing medium-term support at R8.00. Failure would warn of a correction to the long-term rising trendline at R7.50.
* Target calculation: 8.00 – ( 8.50 – 8.00 ) = 7.50
The Euro is in a primary down-trend despite the latest rally, headed for a test of the descending trendline. Expect retracement to test support at $1.32; breach of $1.30 would warn of another test of primary support (at $1.26).
* Target calculation: 1.32 – ( 1.42 – 1.32 ) = 1.22
Pound Sterling broke its descending trendline several weeks ago and is headed for a test of resistance at $1.62. Upward breakout is unlikely at present, but recovery of 63-day Twiggs Momentum above zero would be a bullish sign.
The US Dollar is retracing to test the new support level after breaking long-term resistance at 80 Japanese Yen. Recovery of 63-day Twiggs Momentum above zero, after a long-term bullish divergence, indicates a primary up-trend. Expect a test of the 2011 high at ¥85.
* Target calculation: 80 + ( 80 – 75 ) = 85
ECRI’s Lakshman Achuthan says the economy is slowing:
[gigya src=”http://i.cdn.turner.com/money/.element/apps/cvp/4.0/swf/cnn_money_384x216_embed.swf” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” bgcolor=”#000000″ allowfullscreen=”true” width=”384″ wmode=”transparent” height=”356″ flashVars=”context=embed&videoId=/video/news/2012/02/29/n_ecri_lak_recession_jobs.cnnmoney”]
Despite the clear sense of despair and anger in Greece, politicians and members of the public continue to think that the alternative—default and EZ exit—would be even worse.
……Among the increasingly popular fringe left- and right-wing parties, the only party actually advocating a EZ exit is the communist party, or KKE. The KKE will have just over 10% of the vote in the election in April according to most estimates and refuses to cooperate with any other parties in a coalition. For now, the rest of the political establishment advocates doing whatever it takes to remain in the EZ.
….. most Greeks express desperation to stay in the EZ. This is reflected in recent opinion polls: according to a poll conducted in February for Skai TV and Kathimerini, 70% of respondents said a EZ exit and return to the drachma would make Greece’s situation worse and 61% said they viewed the euro favourably.
via EconoMonitor : RGE Analysts » Note from Athens: Feeling on the Ground Has Palpably Changed.
LONDON—The European Central Bank said it handed out €529.5 billion $712.7 billion in cheap, three-year loans to 800 lenders, the central bank’s latest effort to arrest a financial crisis now entering its third year. Wednesday’s loans were on top of the €489 billion of similar loans the ECB dispensed to 523 banks in late December. The ECB’s goal is both to avoid an escalating crisis as banks struggle to pay off maturing debts and to mitigate a sharp pullback in bank lending to customers across ailing European economies……about two-thirds of the loans went to banks in three euro-zone countries — two in the “periphery,” likely Spain and Italy, and one in the “core,” likely France or Germany.
via ECB Allots €529.5 Billion in Long-Term Refinancing Operation – WSJ.com.
